Biography

Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts, which they consequently dropped out of to further concentrate on the band which would ultimately become Dream Theater. The trio added keyboard player Kevin Moore and vocalist Chris Collins in order to complete their lineup, while Collins was replaced by Charlie Dominici in November 1987. Though a number of lineup changes soon followed, the three original members remained together along with James LaBrie and Jordan Rudess until September 2010 when Portnoy left the band. In October 2010, the band held tryouts for Portnoy's substitute drummer.The band is well known for the technical proficiency of its instrumentalists, who have won many awards from music instruction magazines.

The group signed with Mechanic Records, and released its debut album “When Dream and Day Unite” in 1989. After the album's release the group agreed to change their name to "Dream Theater," inspired by a now-demolished California movie theater.

After firing Dominici, Dream Theater hired Canadian vocalist James LaBrie in 1991. LaBrie's debut album was “Images and Words,” the band's only gold-certified album by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), having sold more than 500,000 copies. Their highest selling album reached #61 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart.

Moore left the group after the recording of 1994's “Awake” and was replaced by Derek Sherinian for the album's tour and was later hired as a full member. “Awake” peaked at #32 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart.

Dream Theater's first live album, “Once in a Livetime,” was released in 1998.

In 1999, Jordan Rudess was hired to replace Sherinian, who had been fired earlier that year. Rudess's first work was “Scenes from a Memory,” a concept album that followed the story of a murder mystery.

In 2002, the group released “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence,” followed by “Train of Thought” in 2003, and “Octavarium” in 2005.

The live album “Score” was released for the band's 20th anniversary and featured the band backed by a 29-piece orchestra. It was followed a year later by their ninth studio album, “Systematic Chaos.” The album entered the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums chart at #19.

The band's tenth studio album, “Black Clouds & Silver Linings,” was released in 2009. It entered the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums chart at #6 and the Eurochart Hot 100 at #1, marking their highest entry on either chart.

To date, Dream Theater has sold over two million records and DVDs in the United States and over ten million records and DVDs throughout the world.